What’s Up Guatemala!!

I have a lot of blogs started about Costa Rica and will post soon! Staying present, processing it all and persevering has been taking up majority of my time and I just haven’t been in the head space to put it all down on paper. But I’m stoked to post soon about my time in Costa Rica. 

Until then, I thought I would update everyone where I am now! My squad just arrived in Guatemala on February 28th and we are now all currently in our ministry sites, which we will be at for the next two months. 

I am in awe at how sweet, vast, and creative our God is. Stepping into this country I was immediately humbled at how Jesus is MOVING in this place. When we got here we were told “Your’e not bringing Jesus to Guatemala, He’s already here and already moving.” We were challenged to take off our “visors” that prevent us from seeing what the Lord is asking us to step into. Our squad and my team are walking into this country with the heart posture of asking the Lord what is he ALREADY doing and where can we link arms and join. I have already been brought to tears multiple times here in Guatemala at just the redemption, peace and curiosity this place is saturated in. 

My team (Oasis) has been placed in a town called Las Huertas de San Pedro, which is about a 12 minute drive from Antigua. We are partnering with a local church, named Destiny Church. Our hosts are so filled with the Holy Spirit and are passionate about not just bringing another pastor to this community. They explained that what these children and teens need is to learn how to read the Bible and then interrupt it on their own. Teaching them to ask the Lord to reveal to them what He is speaking. Our time here looks like us going to school during the week and helping with homework, working in the local park, house visits around the community and saturating the community in prayer. On Thursday nights, we volunteer with our host as we partner with another ministry, Worship Room. On the weekends, we have bible studies with children in the morning, help serve at Sunday service, and on Saturday and Sunday evenings we help with teen youth group. I am beyond humbled to be apart of what’s happening in this town and I can’t WAIT to share the many stories that happen over these next two months! 

Although, this is what our typical schedule will look like…as we all know, things are constantly changing! Our hosts actually tested positive for Covid (they are feeling okay!), so for the first two weeks my team is stepping into ATL or “Ask the Lord”. What this means is, we spend lots of time in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us on where He wants us to go. I’m really pumped for this and excited to walk in discernment, trusting the spirit and boldness with my team. What ATL could consist of is working in the local park and loving on the kids around, praying for people of the community from afar or over people, and walking around the community asking the Lord where He wants us to step in.

Asking for prayers for these next two weeks-our hearts are to be expectant for the Lord to move, but to knock down any cultural or personal perspectives and or lenses that shape what that could look like. Last night our team took communion together and worshiped on our rooftop, and as I looked out over the community, I was reminded of the fact that there are many many cultures out there that have experienced Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit in beautiful ways and I want a humbled and eager to learn heart posture.